Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is expected to face his peers in the U.S. Senate this evening in his bid to become the next Attorney General.
Sessions is widely expected to win confirmation as Attorney General. Reports indicate he has unanimous partisan support, and at least one Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has pledged his support for Sessions.
But dozens of civil rights groups across the country are voicing their opposition to Sessions. Earlier this week, a petition of one million signatures opposing his confirmation was delivered to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.
In Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley is still deciding between six candidates to replace Sessions in the Senate if he is confirmed. Nominees include U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs director Jim Byard, Jr., state representative Connie Rowe and former state legislator Perry Hooper, Jr.
The appointee will begin serving in the U.S. Senate immediately, and will have to run for the seat in a special election to be held next year. The winner of that election will serve out the remainder of Sessions’ term, which ends in 2021.